Shopping for the Real You
I've been reading Shopping for the Real You by Andrea Pflaumer on my Kindle app and I'm finding it so insightful, I thought I'd share some of her wisdom.
Shopping for the Real You Tip #1: Know your true colours
Pflaumer means this literally: know which colours look good on you. Wearing colours that flatter us makes us feel happy as well as look good—and is also very self-affirming. Who doesn’t want that?
The first step is to know if you have a cool (blue) skin tone or a warm (yellow) one. It also helps to know the basics of colour theory: hue, saturation, contrast, etc. Pflaumer explains the art and science of determining your colour palette in a lot of detail in her book, so if you are interested, I highly recommend getting a copy so you can follow her process to nail down your palette.
Shopping for the Real You Tip #2: Know your unique style
Developing your own unique style is by definition a very personal endeavour, one that can also be highly charged and fraught with emotional land mines. But it's also worthwhile, because if you don't, you "run the risk of remaining fashion victims year after year" and becoming "walking advertisements for someone else—a designer, a pop star, etc."
Pflaumer continues, "Consider the concept of individual style in the same spirit...as individual colouring. Think of it as an exploration into the basic principles of harmony that, rather than narrowing down your options, offers you more or better ones. It's another step toward unfolding all the facets of your unique self to the world."
I've been taking "what's your style" quizzes since high school—in fashion magazines, style books, you name it—and by far, Pflaumer in Shopping for the Real You has put the most emphasis on marrying what's inside of you to what's outside—in other words, being authentic and true to yourself —so that you can become your best self.
Inspired by her technique, I've created this little booklet summarizing how you can figure out your personal style by examining your personality.
And I hope you follow along as I explore the different style archetypes in the next few weeks!